DESCRIPTION:
They’d left their daughter with us, their only child, and we hadn’t protected her. That was all they would see when they looked at us—that we had failed them.
I count down the days until we can leave the city behind and return to the beach house. Where James and Katie can roam free over the dunes, like they did as children, and Peter will swap his 6 a.m. starts for the stacks of fluffy pancakes he lovingly serves up for our family breakfasts. These sun-drenched, golden days, just the four of us, are what I hold on to all year long.
But this summer Katie’s best friend will be coming with us. I tell myself the girls will have fun together, pushing aside the doubts I have about this uninvited guest. Isa. With her corn-silk hair and luminous skin, who manages to overshadow my daughter at every turn. Who has been dumped on us by her own parents, too caught up in their petty dramas to see what is right in front of them.
Because I can see it. There is something dangerous about Isa. Something more than a carefree girl, testing boundaries as she approaches adulthood. She threatens to cast storm clouds across my beach house days. I feel as powerless to stop her as I would in the face of a hurricane.
By the end of the summer, Isa will be dead. And I will have to face her mother. I don’t know if I will be able to find the words. How can I begin to explain that she never really knew her daughter at all?
A gripping story of the darkness than lurks beneath the surface of the most picture-perfect lives and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love. Fans of Big Little Lies, Kerry Fisher and Diane Chamberlain will be held totally in thrall by this emotional, twisty read.
BUY LINKS:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B08626LL52Social
Apple: https://apple.co/2IZIh8M
Kobo: http://bit.ly/33tvzZv
Google: http://bit.ly/2IUX3hc
They’d left their daughter with us, their only child, and we hadn’t protected her. That was all they would see when they looked at us—that we had failed them.
I count down the days until we can leave the city behind and return to the beach house. Where James and Katie can roam free over the dunes, like they did as children, and Peter will swap his 6 a.m. starts for the stacks of fluffy pancakes he lovingly serves up for our family breakfasts. These sun-drenched, golden days, just the four of us, are what I hold on to all year long.
But this summer Katie’s best friend will be coming with us. I tell myself the girls will have fun together, pushing aside the doubts I have about this uninvited guest. Isa. With her corn-silk hair and luminous skin, who manages to overshadow my daughter at every turn. Who has been dumped on us by her own parents, too caught up in their petty dramas to see what is right in front of them.
Because I can see it. There is something dangerous about Isa. Something more than a carefree girl, testing boundaries as she approaches adulthood. She threatens to cast storm clouds across my beach house days. I feel as powerless to stop her as I would in the face of a hurricane.
By the end of the summer, Isa will be dead. And I will have to face her mother. I don’t know if I will be able to find the words. How can I begin to explain that she never really knew her daughter at all?
A gripping story of the darkness than lurks beneath the surface of the most picture-perfect lives and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love. Fans of Big Little Lies, Kerry Fisher and Diane Chamberlain will be held totally in thrall by this emotional, twisty read.
BUY LINKS:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B08626LL52Social
Apple: https://apple.co/2IZIh8M
Kobo: http://bit.ly/33tvzZv
Google: http://bit.ly/2IUX3hc
MY THOUGHTS:
Title: Someone Else's Daugher
Author: Jennifer Harvey
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Format: Kindle ARC
No. of Pages: 324
Date of Publication: June 18, 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Isa's parents are trying to reconnect after an affair, so they leave her with her best friend Katie, her parents Louise and Peter, and younger brother James for the summer. What should be a nice enjoyable time, especially with two best friends turns out to be anything but. In fact, on the last day of summer, Isa is nowhere to be found, and later, it is tragically discovered that she drowned.
This book is written in the viewpoints of Katie and Louise's first person points of view. When it comes to Katie, she is pretty much trying to do damage control whereas Isa is concerned. For one thing, Isa sets her sights on someone that Katie really likes, and this creates problems in their friendship. What is more is that there is someone that Isa had dated that proved to be very concerning for Katie, as she was worried about Isa's safety. When it comes to Louise, she had her own worries. She senses something is off about Isa, but can't quite put a finger on it. Meanwhile, Louise is hiding something.
This story proved strongly that Isa had issues, including being selfish and impulsive, and with Katie's attention it was aggravating at times. I sensed communication difficulties on several levels. So, just like Louise wondered if she could have done anything differently while being responsible for Katie, I think the reader felt it too. Then, as a parent, the fact that Louise and her husband Peter were rather free with the teenagers was very concerning to me. Quite frankly, there was some things that I just did not get, especially since their son James was only 15 years old, while the girls were 17 years old.
When it came to relating to the characters, I struggled to relate acceptably to Isa and Louise. Katie I understood. She only wanted to help. And then there was James, a sensitive kid throughout the story. As the story shifts between views, responsibility and trust become a strong factor. There were definitely moments of sadness, especially for Isa's parents.
Jennifer Harvey is a very good writer and did a great job of helping readers to understand the protagonists. Someone Else's Daughter is her debut novel and it definitely shows promise. I am looking forward to reading more from her in the future.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Isa's parents are trying to reconnect after an affair, so they leave her with her best friend Katie, her parents Louise and Peter, and younger brother James for the summer. What should be a nice enjoyable time, especially with two best friends turns out to be anything but. In fact, on the last day of summer, Isa is nowhere to be found, and later, it is tragically discovered that she drowned.
This book is written in the viewpoints of Katie and Louise's first person points of view. When it comes to Katie, she is pretty much trying to do damage control whereas Isa is concerned. For one thing, Isa sets her sights on someone that Katie really likes, and this creates problems in their friendship. What is more is that there is someone that Isa had dated that proved to be very concerning for Katie, as she was worried about Isa's safety. When it comes to Louise, she had her own worries. She senses something is off about Isa, but can't quite put a finger on it. Meanwhile, Louise is hiding something.
This story proved strongly that Isa had issues, including being selfish and impulsive, and with Katie's attention it was aggravating at times. I sensed communication difficulties on several levels. So, just like Louise wondered if she could have done anything differently while being responsible for Katie, I think the reader felt it too. Then, as a parent, the fact that Louise and her husband Peter were rather free with the teenagers was very concerning to me. Quite frankly, there was some things that I just did not get, especially since their son James was only 15 years old, while the girls were 17 years old.
When it came to relating to the characters, I struggled to relate acceptably to Isa and Louise. Katie I understood. She only wanted to help. And then there was James, a sensitive kid throughout the story. As the story shifts between views, responsibility and trust become a strong factor. There were definitely moments of sadness, especially for Isa's parents.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jennifer Harvey is a Scottish writer now living in The Netherlands.
She is the author of three novels.
Someone Else's Daughter will be published on June 18th 2020 with Bookouture.
Two more titles will follow in October 2020 and May 2021.
Her short stories have been published in numerous literary magazines in the US and the UK, such as Bare Fiction, Litro Online, Carve Magazine, Folio, and The Lonely Crowd.
She has been shortlisted for various short story prizes including the Bristol Prize, the University of Sunderland Short Story Award and the Bridport Prize. Her radio dramas have won prizes and commendations from the BBC World Service. She has been longlisted twice for the Bath Novel Award.
Author Social Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenAnneHarvey1
(@JenAnneHarvey1)
Website: http://www.jenharvey.net/
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